The latest buzzword in ministry circles is “health.” Books abound with discussions of cultivating good exercise habits, cultivating a good work/life habits, cultivating good rest habits. However, as important as these are, one area often not addressed is cultivating a good conscience. Pastor Paul took great pains to “have a clear conscience toward both God and man.” (Acts 24:16) What does that look like for elders in Christ’s church?
Knowing What The Conscience Is
First, what is the conscience? Robert Bruce notes that “the conscience consists of two parts: of knowledge, according to which it is called science, and of feeling, according to which the con is added – therefore – conscience. The word conscience signifies, therefore, knowledge with application.” (1) Knowledge always precedes feeling, producing either fear and trembling or relief and rejoicing. For the individual, that knowledge could be summed up in Calvin’s two famous headings: “the knowledge of God and of ourselves.” (2) Thus, we routinely encourage our people to study God’s Word, and we refer them to the summaries of such in our confessions and catechisms. Moreover, we encourage them to be watchful – to know themselves and the motions of their hearts, for we know “the particular judgment [of their own conscience] must precede the general and universal judgment of the Lord.” (3)
The Elder & His Conscience Before The Lord
This leads to my second question – what about the elder? What about the man who will have to give an account for the soul of another? (Heb. 13:17) How does he cultivate a clear conscience? If the individual must know God and know himself, then the elder must know God and know His people.
One the one hand, cultivating an elder’s conscience requires daily growth in his knowledge of God. Our roots must spread deep and wide in the soil of God’s revelation. However, we must keep a helpful Southern proverb in mind: “For every mile of road, there are two miles of ditches.” One ditch is knowing God only to prepare for the next lesson. Too often, instead of walking with God in the garden, we are only interested in snatching the next piece of fruit (Gen. 3:6-8). We can behave like the husband whose only topic of conversation with the Mrs. revolves around the punctuality of the plate on the table. Tell me, is that a healthy relationship? Not for him, not for her, not for the children of which he is accountable.
Before anyone begins to think, “Well, I spend my hours reading John Calvin.” Herein lies the second ditch. Study can become an end in and of itself. Too often, we fall into the trap of communing with dead theologians instead of the living God. Communion with the dead orthodox will produce a dead orthodoxy. We are not called to bear witness to another’s walk with God; no, we are called to bear witness to God (1 John 1:1-4). For both ditches, let me frank. If the end of your fellowship with God is for sermon or study, and not worship, then you are breaking the Third Commandment (WLC 113). (4) To quote Bruce again, “As a rule, if a man sleeps in sin and does not rise in time, one sin will lead to another, for no sin is ever alone.” (5)
Dear Elders, Keep A Clear Conscience
Elders, let us stay out of the ditch and on the road to an ever-deeper knowledge of God. This is how we cultivate a clear conscience. Are we growing in our knowledge of God for the pure joy of knowing Him? Do we prioritize our time with Him with the aim of enjoying that deep, experiential love and adoration which marks God’s stewards? Have we planted ourselves in “the soil in which that root strikes itself, and out of which it draws the vital sap, [being] the free love of God, in Christ Jesus our Lord”? (6)
On the other hand, an elder cultivates his conscience by a knowledge of God’s people, of the souls entrusted under his care. Pastor Paul went “from house to house,” “serving the Lord with all humility and with tears.” (Acts 20:19-20) Paul knew the sheep, Paul loved the sheep, and Paul led the sheep – whoever they were, wherever they were. He personally brought God’s provision to God’s people. Or in layman’s terms, he put the hay where the sheep could reach it.
As we who are the same stewards of the same mysteries, we must practice the same behavior. But how can we if we do not know and love the sheep? Knowing and loving the sheep allows elders to serve God’s people with the relief and rejoicing that blossoms from of a clear conscience. Each us know the fear and trembling which comes otherwise, do we not? How many of us have lost sleep because we left something undone at work? How many times have we turned the car around because we feared that we left the oven on? Or closer to home, how many of us know the fear and trembling which comes when asked about a church member of whom our negligence of their care has produced an ignorance of their condition?
A burdened conscience makes heavy a light work. Oh, but a light conscience allows an elder to fly from task to task as if on golden wings! Archibald Alexander notes this very truth, stating: “I find myself greatly benefited by my visits to the sick and afflicted; and it leads me to preach in a strain which otherwise I should not have thought suitable to a great city.” (7) An affectionate knowledge of our people clears the conscience and prepares the elder to be fruitful in his calling.
Dear Elders, Know God & Know Your People
Elders, let us know our people! Sometimes, this means asking good questions. (FORD is a helpful tool – Family, Occupation, Recreation, and Dreams.) Other times, this means simply showing up to everything from ball games to bedsides. We cannot cultivate a clear conscience relying on weekend visitation only. A clear conscience requires clearly knowing our people. The question is: are we growing in an affectionate knowledge of our people? Do we know the state of their souls as one who must give an account? Or better yet, as one who loves them?
Many things are helpful for an elder – a big library, a wide schedule, a deep budget, and a long vacation. However, one is most needful – a clear conscience. As our knowledge of God rises alongside our knowledge of God’s people, we will find in them both the sun and rain that produces a fruitful ministry.
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(1) Robert Bruce, The Mystery of the Lord’s Supper: Sermons on the Sacrament Preached in the Kirk of Edinburgh, ed. Thomas F. Torrance, 2nd ed (Edinburgh, Scotland, Fearn, Ross-shire: Rutherford House ; Christian Focus, 2005), 151.
(2) John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, ed. John Thomas MacNeill, trans. Ford Lewis Battles, vol. 1 (Philadelphia, PA: The Westminster Press, 2011), I.i.1.
(3) Bruce, The Mystery of the Lord’s Supper, 152.
(4) Archibald Alexander states the case well: “If the priest’s lips were of old to keep knowledge; if the ministers of the Gospel are bound to feed the people with knowledge and understanding; then nothing can be plainer than that ignorance, or small and indigested knowledge is, next to the want of piety, one of the most serious defects in a candidate for the sacred office.” James W. Alexander, The Life of Archibald Alexander, D.D.: First Professor in the Theological Seminary at Princeton, New Jersey (Harrisonburg, VA: Sprinkle Publications, 2008), 318.
(5) Bruce, 160.
(6) Horatius Bonar, God’s Way of Holiness: Growing in Grace by Walking with God (Fearn, Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Heritage, 2021), 51.
(7) James W. Alexander, The Life of Archibald Alexander, D.D.: First Professor in the Theological Seminary at Princeton, New Jersey (Harrisonburg, VA: Sprinkle Publications, 2008), 285.
